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May 1, 2019

How to make an Explosion Box {cheap, unique DIY gift idea!}

In today’s post: Learn how to make a cool explosion box full of photos and notes for a fun DIY gift.

Last week my husband and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary. We aren’t usually big on celebrating anniversaries (in fact we both forgot our anniversary last year!) but since this is a big one we’re planning a trip to Costa Rica in a few months. I am so excited and so nervous, so if you’ve ever been to Costa Rica tell me all about it in the comments! Because we have the trip coming up, we weren’t going to buy gifts this year, so instead I made him an explosion box full of photos.

Learn how to make this cool DIY explosion box.

DIY Explosion Box

An explosion box is made from sheets of cardstock that nest inside each other. When it’s folded up and the lid is on top, it looks like a normal gift box.

Explosion gift box.

But when you take off the lid the layers “explode” to reveal photos, notes, and other decorations. I’ve seen lots of explosion boxes online, but had never made one of my own before. It was really fun to put together.

Learn how to make this cool DIY explosion box card.

An explosion gift box looks complicated, but it’s actually not that hard to construct. I’ve created a printable cutting and scoring guide for you that will tell you how big to make each layer. The cutting guide also comes with a template to make the hearts in the corners of the base layer. Additionally, I have a printable template for the lid to minimize the amount of measuring you need to do. Finally, I’ve made a step-by-step instructional video so you can see exactly how to put it all together.

Learn how to make this cool DIY explosion git box.

Explosion Box Video

Photos don’t really do an explosion box justice, so if you’d like to see my box in action, you can start by watching this quick video:

Explosion Box Supplies

Explosion box supplies

To create an explosion gift box, you’ll need the following supplies:

  • 12×12 inch solid colored cardstock (one for each layer)
  • 12×12 or 8.5×11 inch printed cardstock (for the lid)
  • Adhesive
  • Paper trimmer with scoring blade OR another way to trim + score cardstock
  • Photos
  • Embellishments (optional: this is a good time to pull out any scrapbook supplies you have tucked away!)

Explosion Box Printable Templates

Before you begin, you’ll want to print the following:

Explosion Box Cutting + Scoring Chart

Explosion Box Lid Template (print directly onto the back of your lid cardstock)

Be sure to print each of these templates at 100% or full size. There’s a test square on each one that should measure exactly 1 inch.

The Cutting Guide gives dimensions for up to 7 layers for your box. I made my box with 3 layers, using the dimensions highlighted in yellow on the guide. But you can include as many layers as you’d like in your box! A seven layer box would allow you to include LOTS of photos, notes and other memorabilia.

Please note that the Cutting Guide shows two numbers for each layer: the first number tells you how big the sheet of cardstock should be (square). The second number tells you how far from each edge you will measure in and score. It also includes cutting dimensions for the lid in case you don’t want to use the printable template.

Explosion Box Instructional Video

All the instructions for making your own explosion gift box are included in the video below. (If you cannot see a video, that’s probably because you have an ad blocker on. Either turn off your ad blocker or whitelist this site in order to be able to view the video. You will have to watch a short advertisement before the video will load – annoying, I know. But these ads allow me to continue providing hundreds of tutorials and videos free of charge. Thank you!)

 

Decorating your Explosion Box

Once you have the box put together, this is what it will look like:

Exploding box card template and instructions.

Lots of areas to decorate! I chose to keep my box fairly simple, just adding photos, notes, and a couple of premade notecards from scrapbook section of the craft store, but you can be as elaborate as you’d like.

For my photos, I cut them 1/4 inch smaller than the “score” measurement for each layer. That means the photos on the bottom layer are 3.75 inches square, the ones on the middle layer are 3.25 inches square, and the ones on the top layer are 2.75 inches square.

Learn how to make this cool DIY explosion box.

I added a couple of “interactive” elements in my box as well. I folded a strip of cardstock accordion style. It can be opened up to reveal small photos of each of our kids.

Learn how to make this cool DIY explosion box.

I also cut another strip of printed cardstock and folded it around some old photos of me and my husband that I printed out at wallet size. I tied it with twine and glued the whole thing onto the base layer of the box.

Explosion gift box example.

You can add as many (or as few) interactive elements as you’d like. You can find lots of videos and tutorials online that will give you ideas. This tutorial shows lots of different boxes, pockets, and other interactive elements along with cutting and folding dimensions. This video doesn’t include a tutorial, but gives LOTS of fun ideas.

For more handmade gift ideas, visit these posts:

The biggest list of Photo Gifts

25 Handmade Gifts you can make in 15 minutes or less

20 great DIY gifts for guys

How to make photo letters

How to make personalized photo candles

 

Learn how to make this cool DIY explosion box.

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Home » holidays » How to make an Explosion Box {cheap, unique DIY gift idea!}


38 Comments

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Comments

  1. Lynette says

    May 2, 2019 at 7:34 am

    Oh, Autumn, I am so glad you made the Explosion Box doable! My husband and I will celebrate our 49th (!!!) anniversary this summer, and I think this will be a perfect gift for him. Not only that, but because of the timing of your post, I have a few months to gather items to include in the box. I am a scrapbooker, so supplies are no problem! Thanks so much for this tutorial…and I don’t mind watching the ad so that you can include this valuable instruction for free.
    As far as Costa Rica goes, I have no experience to guide you! I’ve only been to Canada, Mexico and a few countries in Europe, so I’m not very well traveled. The only “advice” I would give is that you not stress about the preparations and packing; relaxing and enjoying yourselves is the most important part of the trip! Have fun!

    Reply
    • autumn says

      May 2, 2019 at 11:34 am

      Thanks Lynette! And congratulations on 49 years!

      Reply
  2. Julie beckaus says

    May 2, 2019 at 8:00 am

    Hello i make explosion boxes 12×12 base can you please tell me what size to make my lid

    Reply
    • N/A says

      February 8, 2020 at 5:19 pm

      12×12 or 8.5×11 inch printed cardstock (for the lid)

      Reply
  3. Lori G says

    May 2, 2019 at 10:21 am

    That is awesome! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful ideas. Love your patterns too.

    Reply
  4. Bev says

    July 26, 2019 at 9:01 am

    I just love this!!! I missed out on the scrapbooking craze because I had children who would not stay out of my craft supplies after school, before I got home. So I gave up all crafts 15+ years ago and have to start acquiring supplies again now that they are all grow and and on their own.

    What I would like to know, what is that tool that you are using to both score and cut? What is it called, who makes it, etc? As I have no idea as to what to even search for and it seems like it would fulfill several purposes, and keep me from buying some unnecessary duplicates.

    Thanks for the great tutorial!

    Reply
  5. Denise says

    July 29, 2019 at 2:43 pm

    Is it possible to purchase the template for the box? I have found it difficult to understand just the chart.

    Many thanks

    Denise

    Reply
  6. Stephanie says

    August 30, 2019 at 12:02 pm

    Great tutorial. Just a note that the template for the lid is a little off. I couldn’t understand why mine would not line up correctly so I measured it. The fold lines closest to the bottom of the page are further in than the other lines. Once adjusted it worked great.
    Thanks

    Reply
  7. mai duc huong says

    September 15, 2019 at 8:36 pm

    cám ơn Bạn vì những ý tưởng sáng tạo tuyệt vời. Cho mình xin nha

    Reply
  8. mai duc huong says

    September 15, 2019 at 8:37 pm

    cám ơn Bạn vì những ý tưởng sáng tạo tuyệt vời.

    Reply
  9. Erika Nelson says

    October 19, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    What size pictures did you do for each layer? I would really like to do this for my boyfriend for our 1 year

    Reply
  10. Adi says

    April 3, 2020 at 2:10 am

    Hi, I didn’t really understand and would love to know what exact sizes I need for the exact marking and cutting of the box and lid.
    Thanks so much, it’s amazing!

    Reply
  11. verginia johnson says

    April 5, 2020 at 2:47 pm

    I am looking forward to making this craft Idea. something to do since we are on lock down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I am wondering it there was just a print of instructions itself without all the comments and advertisements being printed?! Or did I miss something when it came to the print out button? Anyway, thank you for providing such an amazing craft idea 😉 can’t wait to make them with my granddaughter.

    Reply
  12. Hotmail login account says

    April 14, 2020 at 2:30 am

    Saw the box on Instagram and I’m impressed, I didn’t know I could DIY this, it’s a great idea. Thank you for the tutorial!

    Reply
  13. Azerbaycan TV izle says

    May 15, 2020 at 1:56 pm

    Slm photos super thank you

    Reply
  14. Tamikka says

    May 26, 2020 at 5:07 pm

    Hi
    What size photos do I print for this project.

    Reply
  15. ikwords says

    May 27, 2020 at 11:37 am

    Hello, thank you so much for this tutorial! It was easier than I thought it would be, but still a little bit of a challenge, in a good way. I filled it with scenes from my brother’s favorite show, and I’m going to give it to him tonight, his birthday.
    Tip: If you don’t have the scoring/cutting thing she used, I used a paper cutter. First, I (obviously) used the blade to cut when I needed, and then I used the ruler provided and scored. The way I scored was, there are grooves on the paper cutter that are 1/2 inch apart and they make a grid, so after lining the paper up properly I slid a small paperclip along the line a few times. It worked quite well, although it took longer than what Autumn used.

    Reply
    • Jayla says

      May 27, 2020 at 7:06 pm

      I just did this exact thing and felt pretty darn clever !!!

      Reply
  16. Jo Smith says

    June 9, 2020 at 10:31 am

    Thank you so much for this wonderful idea and tutorial. It is my 20th wedding anniversary this year and i usually make a hand made card but wanted to do one a little more special. So happy to come across your page and you made something that looks complicated very easy. The hardest part was choosing the photos! Thank you again. Really looking forward to surprising my husband with it.

    Reply

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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